Egg and ertjit carton



cNiTED STATES PATENT ont-#ion i 01cm c. rENLAsoN, or RAYMOND, wAsHiNeroN.

EGG- AND FRUIT CARTON.

Patented Juneaa, 1919.

Application filed July 10, 1917. Serial No. 179,693.

Raymond, in the county o-f Pacific and State of Washington, have invented a new andl useful Egg and Fruit'Carton, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to egg'cartons, and

its primary object is to provide means, lo# cated within the cells, for cushioning the eggs, fruit, or other articles to be carried thereby, in a manner to prevent their break-- age or damage during transportation.

Another object is to provide a cushioning means adapted to yieldingly receive the articles placed in the individu-al cells and vto eX! ert sufficient pressure upon them to prevent any material lateral movement lor ,thev acci-- dental displacement thereof, and having means, when containing eggs, for facilitating the candling of the same, without the necessity of removing them from the car' ton.

The invention is designed as an improvement on the subject-'matter of my Patent No. 1,235,886, dated August 7, 1917, and is herein shown and described as applied to the identical structure of egg carton'of said patent, though it should be understood, that the cushioning device is equally applicable to any container provided with a plurality of rectangular cells for the reception of eggs, fruit, or other articles.

v A full and complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification; it being understood-that while the drawings show a practical formof the invention, the latter is not confined to strict conformity therewith, :b-utwmay be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modifications Inlark no material departure from the salient features of the invention, as specifically pointed out in the appended claims. In the drawings, in whichlike reference characters designate like parts throughout the several gures:- i v Figure 1 is a plan view of the egg carton of my patent, having the improved cushioning means applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof.

applied a pair. of cells. y Fig. 6 1s .a detail perspectiveview of. another form of theinvention, wh'ereina conladjacent walls thereof.

Fig. 3 isa cross sectional view of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail perspectivefvew of the preferred form of the device. v f Fig. 5 is a perspective view ofan. egg carton showingone of the cushioningdevices tinuous cushioning` device is shown, vadapted to six cells of a carton. e

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of an individual cushioning member adapted to lit within a single cell of an egg carton or other carrier.

Since the exactk structure of the eggV car,-y tonvproper forms no kpart of the present application, the `imp-roved cushioningmeans being, as has been stated, applicable'to any egg carton or other similar containerhaving a plurality of rectangularpockets or cells, no -specic description of the` samei will be made herein. Referring to the drawings,there is shown, in Fig. 1, a container or cell case A provided with a plurality vof cells B, each intended to receive an egg or other article, and to support the same in separatedrelation to each other. The cells B are preferablyk formed of longitudinal sidewalls, a longitudinal central partition strip,end walls and spaced intermediate transverse walls or partitions defining cells, approximately square in plan view. These severalparts maybe formed in any .desired manner and are preferably composed of strips of wood veneer, ithaving )been found that lthe same may be kept in cold storage without `any deleterious eifects therefrom, such as is `found to be the case l being imparted from one egg to another through the partition walls. When, on the other hand, the eggs of the minimum size are carried in the cell case, breakage results from vthe freedom` of movement allowed within the cell when' the egg is at liberty to move or roll around and strike the several To overcome these defects, I haverdevised the herein described cushioning means, which is designed toleflt l-wi-thinthe `cellsof the oase A and to yieldingly receive the eggs, of diiierent sizes, and to support them in spaced relation to the bottom and to the sidesqof ithe cell.

To this end, an oblong strip of wood veneer is utilized, of a width slightly less than the width of the cell-s B, and in the preferred'form of 'the "invention, as illustrated" in detail tin #Fig 4 vof Ethe drawings, the strip 1 is transversely scored at a centrial. point, as indicated j at 2, 1 and' bent 4#to form V"downwardlyextending inclined walls 3, which are adaptedto extend `:into the cells B and' to 'coact'w'ith similar opposed walls supporting'iand-'cusbioning van egg, in

aV manner "to be explained.

The veneer strip l'is'suitably/scoredlat 5 on the oppositesidethereo.at proper intervals to provide a i-pair v of integral V'bottom members; 6 fof "a width considerably fless l than the width of the cells B. A centrallylocated aperture 7-` is provided "inL each'offthe bottom membersy `6 for purpose :fto'ibe described. Cushioningfmeans fortwo'cells'is thus provided,l which? may be ormedlfrom a single strip of Awood veneer, and-'necessitates only one score on the greverse "s'ide 'thereof and one reverse bend, in order `toformltheI same, the

' other scores and bends being onthe other side* and` in one direction, frespectivelyfy and this f form deemed the easiest' to manufacture, the mosteasilyhandled, and consequently the most practical, `since `strips of woord 'veneer of vconiparatively shortflengths, which -otherwise @night 4{be wasted, may be utilized.y -"The scorinwof the veneer strip provides' aI flexible for: 'inged connection? betweenfth'er walls 13 and A4c.

In lapplying "the'cushioning deviceto a cell case, it is only -'necessary, as illustrated in Figspl and y2itointroduce the bottom members 6 into apair'fof-.adjacent` cellsB either longitu'dinally for transversely l of A'the cell case,'when the connectingyportion of the veneer strip underlying the score 2 willrest upon: one 'flthe transverse partition strips or the central longitudinal `4strip, and will serve to" supporti thecu`shionin`g' L means in two l la'dj acent cells,`3the `springof-the downwardly' extending inclined cushioning lgwalls 3fserving'vtomaintain *the* bottom members 6 in a""cefntral position :within 'the cells f B, and somewhat labove the bottom of" thel carton,

` withVthefopposeduwalls 4, in o'ppositely incline'd relation to "the-wallsf 3, and having their i upper edges bearing against' :the A next adj acentitransverse' partition ofi the cellk case or the sidewallsbf the same,asthe case' may be. By 'reason 'off 'the'*diftlerence-y inthe width o'fthe"r bottom'members"@wand the Width of the cells B considerable`outwardemovement of the walls 3 and 4 of the cushioning means may .take :place withoutcontact between said walls and the said transverse partitions. Thus, an egg, indicated in dotted lines at C, and which maybe taken as indicative of any minimum sized egg, will be supported within the cushioning means in a central position and spaced away from the transverse partitions by reason of the spring of the wood veneer'composing the strip l.

As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the point of the egg is adapted to enter and be supported yin the aperture y7, infspaced relation to the-bottom of the severalstrips composing the cell caseA, and thus any :danger of contact of the eggs with afta'ble or1other support, or with other cartons, when-instorage, is obviated. .It will further beseenthat by reason :of the frictionalacontact of the walls 3 andl with the egg, :the latter is prevented from. accidental displacement through ftheopen end off thercell v3B'. The :tree'upper endsl ofztheouter-l walls 4f'. areE fric-z tionally rheldl against theY adj acent `transverse. strips vbyreason ofthe egg itself.

Another form ofthe A. device is illustrated in'lrig.6in fwhicha series of six' cushioning members @are :formed Jfrom one continuous and consequently five reverse bends, ,the

members of the \individual cushioning devicesbeing formed `as intheziirst described form of the invention. Onlyitwofoffgthe latter form :of ymultiple cushioning---devices :are necessary when yused in' f ai cell case,- having one; dozencells, which a is iuthe mostl practical ormof4 cell case. They are placedlongitudinally in the cell 'case 4,As-,and parallel to eachother,1 withrv thev several joining portions adjacent to the-@scores Zgiiesting'uponithe upper edgesl of --tlie several; tnansverse l p artitions, and 'the i outer walls orfinembers l-,restf ing .against and 1rictionally.'-'engaging the end (walls of the cell casefAimthe same manner as ,the -iirst-mentioned-ornrof the invention. r*By reason ofstlieiextremelengthof the flast" described form f ofathe i invention,it has been found'that the: tuvo-cell ormgof cushion is more ,easilyiassembled ,andsthe most practical. l Upon reterence to1 fEig.; 2 of thedrawing,-itwill be noted thatthe bend-52 extends .above the partitions ofthe :cell case and maybe grasped by the-.n-gers ing-removing the cushioning y3 strip from .the cell ,case

lA f; further 1 modification iis illustrated fin Fig. 7, of the drawings, wherein afsingle cell lcushioning Vdevice is. shownfhaving bottom member 9;, provided-,with an,` aperture ,3 10,.; and scored and bent Ato;form;upwardly; extend,-

said cell and to 'support'the same, together with its contents, in proper position within the said cell.

When the several cells have been supplied with eggs, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the same are safely supported by the cushioning means in spaced relation to the top and bottoni of the said cell, and are prevented from contacting with said transverse partitions, and the entire cell case or carton A may be then incased in a veneer wrapping, as shown and described in the hereinbeforev mentioned application, or it may be wrapped in paper in the ordinary manner.

It will' be seen that the apertures, formed in the bottom members of the several cushioning devices, form, in addition to a steadying means for the egg, a passageway for the rays of a suitable light vwhen it is desired to candle the eggs in the carton, it being only necessary to pass the loaded carton before said light without the necessity of removing the eggs from the carton.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that means have been devised for reducing the breakage of eggs to a minimum, while contained in cartons for shipping or storage, and that the said cushioning means may be manufactured 'from the same material as the cell case or carton with a small number of scores and bends, thus reducing t0 a minimum the cost of manufacturing the same.

Whatis claimed iszc 1. The combination with a cell case, of a cushioning device formed of a strip of veneer comprising a flat egg supporting bottom member of less area than the area of one of the egg cells and located within the-same, said bottom member having an aperture for the egg, upwardly-diverging imperforate side walls integrally and flexibly connected to and rising from the bottom member and adapted to bear against and frictionally engage the adjacent side walls of the cell at the top to hold the said bottom member above the bottom of the cell.case and maintain the side walls in spaced relation to the side walls of the cell, except at the top, whereby a cushioned double wall is provided on each side of the egg.

2. A cushioning strip for ready insertion in cell cases, said strip being formed from an oblong blank of veneer having a pair of transverse score lines and bent on the score lines to provide a flat bottom member and fiat imperforate inclined side walls rising therefrom, said bottom member having a central aperture.

3. The combination with a cell case having a plurality of cells, of a cushioning device therefor comprising a strip of veneer of a width less than the width of the cells of said cell case, said strip being scored at opposite sides at proper intervals and bent to form a plurality of egg supporting bottom members each of less width than thev area of the cells, and each having a central aperture for the egg, and upwardly and outwardly iiared imperforate side walls flexibly connected at'one end to the 'opposite sides of the egg supporting bottoms, certain of the side walls being iiexibly connected together at their adjacent ends and adapted to rest upon the upper edges of the cell case to support thel side walls in spaced relation to said cell case exvone side of the strip between every two scores at the opposite side, so that the strip may be bent in opposite directions to provide a series of bottom members of a width less than the width of the cells, a pair of connected inclined intermediate walls between each pair of bottom members, and an end wall at each end of the strip, the upright intermediate walls being hung at the score line from the top edges of the cells with said Walls spaced from the walls of the latter except at their upper portions, the end walls also bearing at their upper edges against the walls ofthe cell case and maintained in spaced relation thereto.

5. The combination with a cell case, of a cushioning device therefor consisting of a strip of veneer scored transversely, with a score at one side of the strip between every two scores at the opposite side, so that the strip may be bent in opposite directions to provide a series of bottomv members, a series of inclined intermediate walls connecting the bottom members and being in turn flexibly connected at the score line, and end walls at each end of the strip, said device being inserted in the top of the cell case `with the connected intermediate walls hung from the upper edges of the cells, and said intermedivate and end walls spaced from the walls of the cells except at their upper portions.

6. The combination with a cell case having longitudinal' and transverse partitions delining a plurality of cells, of a cushioning device therefor comprising a strip of veneer scored at intervals at one side to bend in one direction and having its other side scored to bend in the opposite direction, the scoring being arranged so that a single score line of one side is disposed between two score lines of the opposite side, the said two score lines defining an egg-supporting bottom member with a pair of inclined side walls, and the vhinged connection straddles one of said tion between adjacent Vside Walls, which myoygn,:[:hgwelieretoeffiged lnysigngttiile i. Y* lilitliefplsesl.OLWOWWHQSSQS- transverse partltlons and extends abovethe saine in position to be grasped by the hand GRIN C' SON' in 4removing the (cushioning device there- ",Witliesses: from. "J FENLASON,

In testimonythat I claim the foregoing as QLAXTQN FNLASON.

Gopies` of this ,patent may he obtained for ve ycents eegh', pytggressng the Commissionerof'Batents,

Washington, 2 1). C v n 

